http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com |
Over
the last few days, Iran has been convulsed by physical violence involving
hundreds of thousands of people, political developments of unprecedented
magnitude, and a remarkable display of disciplined courage from the people
of Tehran that recalls the final days of Milosevic's tyranny in Serbia.

The
epicenter of the violence was Isfahan, where tens of thousands of the
regime's young opponents fought with the militias who tried to quash demonstrations
honoring the student uprising of 1999. At least half a dozen people were
killed, scores hospitalized, and literally thousands were arrested in
Isfahan and Tabriz, where similar insurrections took place. This was no
peaceful demonstration; the people called for an end to the regime. And
when the militias attacked, something quite new occurred: local police
and even members of the Pasdaran, the "Guardians of the Revolution,"
shielded the opposition and even shot back at the militiamen. Nothing
of the sort had happened in the 23 years of the Islamic Republic.

In Tehran, a few
thousand students gathered at the university and were immediately attacked
and dispersed. Several were severely wounded, and hundreds were carted
off to face beatings and jail cells. Thousands of students  they
claim 100,000, which is probably too high a figure, but in any case a
substantial number  marched on the radio and television headquarters,
only to be attacked by helicopters and the usual thugs. But as these events
unfolded, the streets of the city were filled with enormous throngs of
people  organizers claim several million, but it is impossible to
confirm these numbers  stood and sat immobile, simply looking at
one another as if to give courage to one and all.

These events seem
to confirm that Iran has turned yet another corner in the relentless collapse
of the mullahcracy that President Bush condemned so eloquently in his
"axis of evil" speech. The people no longer fear the regime,
and they are finding new ways to demonstrate their contempt. Under these
circumstances, the regime can only last so long as its will to oppress
and kill Iran's citizens remains firm, and we can already see major fissures
in the edifice of the regime.

The most dramatic
crack in the mullah's tyrannical regime came in Isfahan, where the Ayatollah
Taheri, the imam of the city and the official representative of Supreme
Leader Khamenei, resigned his post and released a five-page letter explaining
his motives. That letter constitutes perhaps the most devastating attack
ever unleashed against the regime of the Islamic Republic.

"I am embarrassed
and ashamed," he wrote. "You cannot blame (the United States
and the Shah) for the failures and corruption of our country. This has
all resulted in our people turning away from Islam, rising unemployment,
inflation, high cost of living, a "satanic gap" between the
rich and the poor, an ailing economy, government corruption and addiction."
He describes the regime as a vast mafia that responsible for "a failing
foreign policy, corruption, bribery, brain drain, and the harassment and
jailing of journalists and writers." These people, he said, "are
riding on a stupid camel of power onto the field of politics." And
worst of all, this mafia gang funds and supports vigilante forces who
"continuously sharpen their dinosaur fangs of violence, with the
hope of marrying their ugly, oppressive, fear-evoking bride of violence
to religion."

The Iranian people
believe that the open defection of Taheri is the beginning of the end
of the regime. Perhaps it is wishful thinking; regime forces rounded up
the top student leader, Tabarzadeh, and dozens of his associates and carted
them off to torture cells in the capital. The complicit American news
media in Iran have reported very little of the recent dramatic events,
although you can easily piece together the overall picture by looking
at the websites of the BBC, Reuters, and Radio France Internationale.

What the Iranian
people most yearn for is an open embrace from Washington. Let us hope,
therefore, that they do not read the transcript of a press briefing at
the Evil Empire this week, a.k.a. the Department of State, where they
would find these bloodcurdling exchanges:

QUESTION:
Scheduled for tomorrow, there are supposedly going to be major demonstrations
in Tehran. Does the State Department have a message for the demonstrators,
given US interest in this recently?

MR. BOUCHER:
No.

QUESTION:
You have no message?

MR. BOUCHER:
We don't.

QUESTION:
This is supposed
to be a really big demonstration and, you know, the "axis of evil"
speech from the President, un-elected few  (laughter) 

QUESTION:
Is that the official US line?

MR. BOUCHER:
That's the official US line. No, the official US line is, you know,
we don't comment when people demonstrate. I mean, when do we give messages
to demonstrators?

QUESTION:
Well, no.

MR. BOUCHER:
I guess 
no, I remember. Bob Strauss went out the night that the Soviet Union
fell out, fell apart, and he gave the liberty message to demonstrators.
That's about the only instance that I can remember that we've been out
there. Certainly in places as far away as Tehran, the idea that we would
have a message every time there's a demonstration is a little far-fetched.

QUESTION:
All right. Well, it's just I asked it because in the context that the
President did call them a member of the "axis of evil" and
mentioned the un-elected few. There's been a lot of talk about supporting
the people who want democracy there, and you know, they're having a
big demonstration tomorrow, so I thought it would be a nice way to.

MR. BOUCHER:Iran
has been more and more open as time goes on, and we'll watch that process
from afar at this point.

I know it reads like
unrestrained satire, verging on slapstick. But it's real. Perhaps the
best therapy for comrade Boucher is to lock him in a room and make him
listen to the collected speeches of Ronald Reagan and read the collected
works of Vladimir Bukovsky, Lech Walesa, and Natan Sharansky.

As for his bosses,
who are supposed to turn the president's words into actions, I really
don't know what to do. I'm as embarrassed as the Ayatollah Taheri, whose
words and whose moral courage are so much more admirable than those of
the State Department's leaders.

He's currently unemployed.
Maybe he'd like to be Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs?

Like this writer's work? Why not sign-up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

07/09/02: History being made, but the West appears clueless06/05/02: Is George Tenet endangering peace in Israel?06/03/02: Ridiculous, even for a journalist05/20/02: So how come nobody's been fired yet?05/14/02: Open doors for thugs04/20/02: Iran on the Brink … and the U.S. does nothing 04/16/02: Its the war, stupid … someone remind Colin Powell 04/08/02: Gulled: In the Middle East, Arafat doesn't matter04/02/02: Faster, Please: The war falters03/26/02: The Revolution Continues: What's brewing in Iran03/18/02: Iran simmers still: Where's the press?03/05/02: We can't lose any more ground in Iran 02/14/02: The Great Iranian Hoax02/12/02: Unnoticed Bombshell: Key information in a new book01/31/02: The truth behind the Powell play01/29/02: My past with "Johnny Jihad's" lawyer 01/21/02: It's Munich, all over again01/08/02: What's the Holdup?: It's time for the next battles in the war against terrorism 12/11/01: We must be imperious, ruthless, and relentless12/06/01: Remembering my family friend, Walt Disney11/28/01: The Barbara Olson Bomb: Understanding the war11/13/01: How We're Doing: The Angleton Files, IV11/06/01: A great revolutionary war is coming10/25/01: How to talk to a terrorist10/23/01: Creative Reporting: Learning to appreciate press briefings10/19/01: Not the Emmys: A Beltway award presentation10/15/01: Rediscovering American character10/11/01: Somehow, I've missed Arafat's praise of the first stage of our war on terrorism10/04/01: What do we not know?09/28/01: Machiavelli On Our War: Some advice for our leaders09/25/01: No Room for the U.N.: Keeping Annan & co. out of the picture09/21/01: Creative destruction09/14/01: Who Killed Barbara Olson?08/22/01: How Israel will win this war 08/15/01: Bracing for war 08/09/01: More Dithering Democrats08/02/01: Delirious Dems07/31/01: Consulting a legendary counterspy about Chandra and Condit, cont'd07/19/01: Be careful what you wish for 07/17/01: Consulting a legendary counterspy about Chandra and Condit 07/05/01: Let Slobo Go 05/30/01: Anybody out there afraid of the Republicans?05/09/01: The bad guys to the rescue 05/07/01: Bye-bye, Blumenthal 04/20/01: Handling China04/11/01: EXAM TIME!04/05/01: Chinese over-water torture03/27/01: Fighting AIDS in Africa is a losing proposition03/14/01: Big Bird, Oscar, and other threats03/09/01: Time for a good, old-fashioned purge03/06/01: Powell’s great (mis)adventure02/26/01: The Clinton Sopranos02/20/01: Unity Schmoonity: Sharon is defying the will of the people01/30/01: The Rest of the Rich Story01/22/01: Ashcroft the Jew01/11/01: A fitting close to the Clinton years12/26/00: Continuing Clinton's shameful legacy12/21/00: Clinton’s gift for Bush